Marilee Rowen
(page contains major spoilers from all three books, please read the trilogy before reading this page. To read the ongoing series, go to www.wattpad.com/electrawhittaker) Marilee Jade Rowen is the titular protagonist of E. M. Rivera's The Orytron Trilogy ''series. The books take place in the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 21st years of the orphan girl's life, who, right before her 13th birthday, lost her parents, Tanya Rowen and Peter Rowen, and her older brother, Kyle Rowen, at the beginning of the Daanemarian War after they sacrificed themselves for her. She decides to join the Orytron Alliance 5 years later to train to be a soldier under the guidance of her trainers, Harold Sawyer and Fiona Wicker, along with her nemesis-to-boyfriend, Connor Durell, and her best friends, Lauren Penpowski and Jeff Henderson. Marilee initially believes she is a Regular, an Orytronian with no abilities, but discovers that she is actually a Warrior, capable of super-strength.The book series revolves around Marilee's adventures in being a soldier and protector of her planet as she fights against enemy planets that threaten Orytron's safety, while also discovering new secrets about herself. Rivera describes Marilee as her favorite creation so far, as well as the book series itself being one of her greatest masterpieces in her literature career. Concept and creation The idea for both the Orytron Trilogy books and its' powerful character came after her aunt had suggested to her that she should write books that take place outside of Earth. Her idea of "a planet suffering war and destruction" came to her while brainstorming at school. While developing the ideas for her book, she decided to make Marilee an orphan whose family sacrificed themselves for her, in order to make her motivation to enter the war valid and strong, building her personality and giving her a good backstory to feed off on. Being an only child devoted to her own parents inspired Rivera to put herself in Marilee's shoes, her anguish and guilt feeling more real to her as she imagined a life without her own parents and the feeling of their death being her own fault. ''"If my parents ever sacrificed their lives for mine, I would probably never forgive myself." In her author's note at the beginning of the Wattpad version of the book, she mentions the Divergent Series ''by Veronica Roth being her inspiration for the setting and mood of the character. She finally created Marilee's appearance, which was similar to her own, since she could relate to most of her feelings. However, Marilee was not directly based on any real-life person. She was basically her '''imaginary twin'. Rivera has also considered Marilee to be a good, heroic, strong female character, showing that women can be strong even if there were demons they still had to face, while also maintaining the feminine side and the fighter side in perfect balance. "Marilee is a girl that most girls would want to be. She's beautiful, strong, selfless, smart, and although she does have quite a temper when she is pushed to her limit, she's a very likeable and relatable character when it comes to feeling grief, guilt, anger, or any other emotion that is felt throughout her story. She is a great role model and is basically my 'imaginary twin', since I could definitely put myself in her shoes. That's what makes her my star character." ''The Orytron Trilogy book appearances Orytron Marilee first appears in ''Orytron. Starting in 1735, when Marilee is nearly 17 years old, she decides to leave her orphanage and go into war to rid herself of the guilt she carried for the past 5 years of war due to her family's sacrifice. She meets the rest of the main characters and initially considers the other lead character, Connor Durell, as her nemesis, but their relationship gradually improves until they fall in love. ''Orytron: Elder Warrior In the second book, ''Orytron: Elder Warrior, Marilee is 19 years old and part of the Alliance, living a regular life as Orytron's famous heroine. Rivera adds another secret to her story by revealing a supposedly extinct Orytronian species called the Elder Warrior. Wanting to know more, she goes to an ancient temple with her friends that belonged to the Elder Warriors, only to discover that she is the last Elder Warrior alive. ''Orytron: Planet Plague In the third book, ''Orytron: Planet Plague, Rivera uses an infection as the conflict. Marilee, who is now 21, must find the source of an unstoppable virus that spreads across the globe, awakening various types of Orytronian diseases, such as goldvein or dapaxtria. She learns that a new planet has come to destroy them, called Jakzam. Being one of the only ones immune to the virus, she is the only one that can stop her loved ones and the citizens from dying. Characterisation 'Outward Appearance' Throughout the series, Marilee is described as having long, dark brown hair, like her mother's, along with both her parents' brown eyes, golden tan skin, and a Warrior spiral vein on her left hand. Rivera personally describes her as "pretty and tall" with "sinewy features", "long, dark hair", and "full lips". Her figure becomes more defined and her demeanor more mature as she grows older. 'Personality' Marilee is strongly guided by her instincts and discernment, as well as her parents' and confidantes' advice to her. Having "serious guilt and self-esteem problems", Rivera says, Marilee "is inspired by those feelings and doesn't let them bring her down, but lift her up instead." "Like anyone else, she does make mistakes and tends to doubt herself a lot, but with the help of her loved ones, she always manages to get back up and keep going. She has a lot of emotional turmoil throughout the years, especially with so many secrets about herself that she never knew, but the adventures and accomplishments she goes through give her the pieces she needs for her puzzle." Her moments of instability and self-doubt show that she isn't just a tough girl who brushes off every stick and stone thrown at her. She's bound to crash and break down once in a while, just like anyone else. Her emotional breakdowns and guilt trips show that she is selfless and has a good conscience, and that she is brave enough to face those demons instead of running away. She is always putting others before herself, and faces danger head-on, showing her tough, strong side. Abilities and skills Throughout the series, Marilee is described as a prodigy in combat and shooting. She has an unusual amount of strength for a Regular Orytronian, which is later explained when she finds out she is in fact a Warrior with partially charged cells. Before this, however, her expertise in fighting earns her a place in the top ten trainees. She has great technique and reflexes in her fighting, especially after all that time training. Marilee is also gifted in stealth missions, in which she successfully completes various missions without being detected. After the first book where she becomes part of the Prime Alliance, she becomes a junior trainer and works alongside Connor while continuing her training. In the first book, she helps Lauren in her shooting exercises without being an official trainer. She also improves her abilities during her training with Harold and Connor. She also shows her fighting skills during combat with her enemies, in the first book, she fights Jackson and narrowly escapes death, but manages to beat him. She also fights Monica and Caleb, showing her strength by fighting Monica relentlessly and never giving up when Monica overpowered her, and she kept fighting Caleb despite her injuries and having her strength drained. She is also very smart and observant, has expert skill in computers and technology, and she can drive and fly vehicles with great speed, though not as recklessly as Lauren. But she performs amazing stunts and takes a lot of reckless risks during combat, most of the time nearly killing herself and worrying her loved ones. Her abilities and strength increase and her reflexes sharpen even more when she activates her Elder Warrior cells in Book 2, obtaining the ability to sense immediate danger, slow down time in her perspective, emit powerful shockwaves, create shields, and be invulnerable to bullets, but not antioryte bullets. She also obtains faster regeneration powers and can withstand antioryte, but is still vulnerable to it. Her powers are very destructive and explosive when they are at maximum strength, this usually happens when Marilee feels an intense emotion. Her powers are most effective and dangerous when she is under intense grief, anguish, anger, or sadness. Possessions Marilee's most treasured possession would be her locket, made of a rare Orytronian gold called karatine gold. Her mother had given it to her as an early 13th birthday present the day before she was killed. She wears it around her neck and never takes it off. It contains a holographic picture of herself and her family from when she was 12. She also keeps a special music box that her fellow orphans gave her the day she left for war, containing a holographic picture of her from when she was 14 and it plays her favorite song in guitar, called Starlight Dream, a lullaby she would sing with the orphans when she was younger. She has a pink and yellow camorose, an Orytronian plant that disguises itself into objects to ward off predators. This rose turns into a yellow coat button. Connor gave it to her for her 18th birthday, remembering that it was her favorite flower, because it "always appears to be something it's not". In the third book, she obtains Connor's engagement ring for her when he dies in a toxic explosion, but doesn't wear it because of the grief it brings her. Family tree In the novels, Marilee is the secondborn child of Peter and Tanya Rowen and the younger sister of Kyle Rowen, the firstborn child, orphaned at 12 years and 11 months old. Rivera's very first draft already had Marilee's family's murder as her backstory. She felt that losing her family to war would be the perfect motivation to go into war, and it would be easier to put herself in Marilee's shoes. Being an only child, Rivera is very devoted to her parents and couldn't stand the thought of losing them, which is why she wrote Marilee as a teenager that was haunted by the murder and longing to bring justice to the ones responsible for their death, also blaming herself for their death since they sacrificed themselves for her. Marilee is at first categorised as a Regular Orytronian with no abilities in the first book, until her Warrior cells are reactivated and the others investigate her genetic background. In Book 2, her genealogy is revealed when she finds out where she got her Elder Warrior cells after the aforementioned species was supposed to be extinct. Not all of her ancestors are mentioned, but Rivera created a proper family tree for Marilee. Her bloodline starts with Clyde and Heather Smith, Heather being the Elder Warrior and Clyde being a Memoir. Heather had deactivated her Elder Warrior cells to keep her and her family safe. The couple had two children, a Warrior boy named Owen Smith and a Wielder girl named Amy Smith. Heather's Elder Warrior cells were passed on to her daughter. Amy married a Seeing Eye man named Thomas Pierce having an only daughter, a Memoir named Claudia Pierce. Claudia married a Regular man named Wade Thompson. They had two daughters, Carrie and Rose Thompson, Carrie being a Warrior and Rose being a Regular. Only Carrie inherited the Elder Warrior genes, being the oldest of the two. Carrie then married a Wielder named George Fenelly, having three children, a Seeing Eye named Mason Fenelly, a Warrior named John Fenelly, and a Memoir named Keisha Fenelly, being the one who inherited the Elder Warrior cells. Keisha then married a Regular named Henry Bucks, having one Regular daughter with deactivated Elder Warrior cells, Hannah Bucks. Hannah married David Wenaca, having three children, Memoir Hallie Wenaca, Regular Scarlet Wenaca, and Wielder Josh Wenaca, the eldest of the girls obtaining the cells. Hallie married Marilee's grandfather, Memoir Bill Crowman. They had four children, Warrior Lance Crowman, Seeing Eye Tanya Crowman, Seeing Eye Jack Crowman, who unfortunately died in childbirth, and Memoir Yvette Crowman, who died at age 5 from goldvein. Tanya, the eldest of the girls and Marilee's mother, obtained the cells. At age 8, she discovered that her Seeing Eye visions caused her seizures due to a rare Orytronian medical condition called overcharge, which is when the Gifted Orytronian's body cannot handle the amount of power their Gifted cells produce. She deactivated her Seeing Eye cells, causing most of the population to believe she was a Regular. Tanya later married Memoir Peter Rowen, giving birth to Memoir Kyle Rowen and Warrior Marilee Rowen. The Elder Warrior cells were passed on to Marilee. Peter Rowen was an important man, being the Head Director of Genetic Division. He was in charge of protecting the Gifted citizens and making sure that their education and training was specifically designed for each Gifted species. He was also the one who discovered the Golden Seeing Eye species with help from Tanya, whose ancestors had deactivated their cells after the supposed extinction of the Elder Warriors, fearing that the same would happen to them. The day they were murdered along with their son, Kyle had erased Marilee's memories of her Warrior training in order to deactivate her cells and keep her safe from the Daanemarians, given the fact that they could not detect deactivated Gifted cells. Marilee reactivates her cells in Book 1 and her Elder Warrior cells are accidentally reactivated in Book 2, reawakening the species and making her the last of her kind. Her bloodline continues in the last series of short stories, Orytron: Next Generation Stories, after she marries Connor and has three children: Elder Warrior Tanya Durell, Memoir Gloria Durell, and Wielder Peter Durell. It is later revealed in the series that due to the reactivation of the Elder Warrior cells, the other two children also have their abilities affected. Gloria is the first of a new species called the Memoirant, the more powerful version of Memoirs, and Peter is the first of another new species called the Ultra Wielder, the more powerful version of Wielders.